The territories were inhabited by
Turkic tribes from early history. The name Kuldga was first mentioned at the period of Turkic Khanate. When the Uyghur tribes, led by Pen Tekin, left to the west, part of the Yaglakar tribe, which was part of the Uyghur tribal union, left with them.
Chagatai Khan, the son of
Genghis Khan, placed the capital of his possessions here. These lands were ruled by the Dzungar until they were conquered in the middle of the 18th century by the Qing during the so-called third Oirat-Manchu war. For a long time, Gulja was the de facto administrative and military capital of Qing Xinjiang (literally "New Frontiers"). The county was created in 1888 and was originally known as Ningyuan () County. It received its present name in 1914. In 1952, the city of
Yining was separated from Yining County into a separate county-level administrative unit. == Notes ==